Neely's POV:
His chest was warm against my cheek, heartbeat rhythmic and I couldn't help but blush. Here I was, laying in a warm bed with someone who loved me. Someone who really loved me.
"You're staring," he rasped, his hand covering mine over his butterfly tattoo.
"I'm gazing. There's a difference," I grinned pressing a kiss to his neck. He chuckled, eyes still closed and I climbed on top of him.
"What a way to wake up." His hands rested on my hips and I pressed soft kisses all over his neck, nibbling a little bit above his collar bone.
"Is it weird that I just want to touch you? Your skin is so soft." I pressed my palms against his pecks and he smiled up at me, his eyes finally opening.
"No, baby girl. It's not." Harry's smile was lazy across his lips as I bent down to kiss him. His hands lightly slid up and down my sides, his touch giving me a burst of energy.
"I need coffee."
"I second that."
"Let's go get some." Pressing a kiss to his cheek, I rolled off of him, standing up and stretching. Turning back around and facing him, he smiled.
"What?" I grinned.
"You're beautiful." I awkwardly stood there, trying to hide my stretch marks with my arms and rolled my eyes.
"You're crazy."
"Crazy for you."
"Uh-huh." Shaking my head as my feet padded against the hardwood flooring, I opened his dresser drawer, grabbing a shirt before walking toward the door and heading downstairs.
"Sounded like you two made up," Louis teased as I sat at the island.
"In a way."
"You've got great legs by the way, I'm jealous."
"Thanks." Chuckling as he slid me a cup of coffee, I felt Harry's hands meet my waist, his chest enveloping my back.
"I don't think we properly said good morning."
"How-" I rolled my eyes, stopping myself.
"Good morning, baby."
"Good morning, Harold." He moved one hand from my waist, smacking my butt before walking toward the coffee pot with a boyish grin.
"What are the plans for today?" Louis laughed.
"I don't know. Genius here usually comes up with something."
"I've got some errands to run for the restaurant, gotta crunch some numbers and do a wine tasting. Changing up the menu a bit.," Harry sighed as he shut the refrigerator door and took a strawberry from the bowl of fruit in his hand.
"You own a restaurant?" I gaped. "Since when?"
"I opened two and a bakery before coaching at the university."
"Is the food good?"
"People seem to think so. I'm meeting with my architect tomorrow for lunch to talk about plans for a third one because something went astray."
"That's so cool," I beamed, remembering the countless hours I had spent running around my Uncle's restaurant as a child and the openings I got to go to.
"We're planning to open up the third one in Philadelphia in August. We might have to push it back to September."
"That's really cool, babe. I'm proud of you," I slightly blushed at my term of endearment and cleared my throat. "When will you be back?"
"You can come with me. We've got a menu tasting at 1:30 and then a wine tasting after that. Plus, I've got a few other errands to run."
"I don't wanna int-"
"It's fine, in all honesty. With your background, you can help."
"Okay." Taking a piece of fruit from him, I chewed it and tried not to grin. The wide expanse of his hand covered the cold bottom of the bowl and I couldn't help but stare at his bare chest and the sweatpants that hung low on his hips. His hips. God, his hips were tantalizing with a deep v line and warm, smooth skin I wanted nothing more than to mark up with love bites.
"What?" he grinned, stepping closer to me.
"Nothing," I shrugged, sighing as we quietly ate. Louis had gone into the living room, quietly chuckling along the way.
"Tell me." He stood between my legs with a wide grin, holding a grape to my lips.
"It's nothing." I couldn't help but giggle.
"Neely."
"Harry."
"Tell me."
"Tell you what?"
"I'm gonna tickle you," he cautioned, sitting the bowl on the counter.
"Do you wanna lose your balls?" I joked.
"You know you love me," he laughed, his hands at my sides.
"Eh. You're decent." I burst into laughter as he began furiously tickling me and couldn't manage to get out of his grip.
"C'mere." He lifted me over his shoulder, arm across the back of my thighs and carried me out of the kitchen.
"Harry, put me down."
"Tell me what you wanted to say."
"Never."
"Never say never." Sighing, I gave up and let all my weight fall against his broad shoulder as he carried me up the stairs.
"How about a nice, warm, shower?" I could practically hear him grinning and tried to get away as soon as I heard him open the shower door.
"Our clothes!" I squealed, the water turning on and drenching my legs.
"Live a little," he teased, sitting me on my feet. Rolling my eyes as I undressed, I tossed everything in the floor before closing the shower door and Harry smirking at me.
-------------------------
"We're never taking a shower together again," I laughed, the sun beaming through the windows. A bandaged knee and a forming bruise on my arm later, Harry and I were on the way to the restaurant.
"Duly noted," Harry chuckled, squeezing my hand lightly. The rest of the ride was silent and I smiled widely as we pulled up to what I assume was his restaurant.
"You ready?"
"Absolutely." Getting out, my eyes took everything in. The sign was rustic and very eye catching, yet modern and classy. People were running around about the inside as we walked through the doors and the familiar scent of steak filled my nostrils.
"Harry!" someone yelled and a wide smile spread across his face.
"Scott! How are you, man?" Watching and smiling as they embraced, I stood there awkwardly.
"Is this her?" I was slightly taken aback. Harry had talked about me?
"This is my girl," Harry beamed, wrapping his arm around my waist.
"You didn't tell me she was this gorgeous," he smiled, shaking my hand. "Scott Meekins."
"Neely Cavanaugh. Nice to meet you," I nodded.
"You play for Tennessee, don't you?"
"I do."
"My family is a huge fan of Tennessee. My niece and daughter absolutely love you."
"Thank you," I blushed.
"Alright, we can get started now. Neely, all of the ladies are in the back with cocktails if you wanna join them," Scott said, extending his hand out. What a douche.
"She'll actually be joining us. She has experience and her opinion is very valuable," Harry interjected, his fingers slightly digging into my hip.
"But-" he started.
"I'm smarter than I look," I smiled widely, trying not to punch him. Everything was quiet as we walked toward the table full of six other men. They all stopped talking as soon as they saw us.
"This is Frank, Mark, Kevin, Dave, Alex, and Hugh. Guys, this is Neely," Harry introduced.
"So you're the one he won't shut up about," Alex smiled as we sat down.
"It's nice to meet you all," I chuckled.
"What's she doing here, Harry? Usually the ladies hang out in the back," Mark noted and I rolled my eyes.
"She's got a good background."
"Doesn't look like she knows the difference between Cab, Merlot, and Pinot." Laughter broke out across the table and I cleared my throat.
"I grew up in the restaurant business and I do know the difference between a Cabernet, Merlot, and Pino. I'm smarter than I look. You sitting here being sexist is not making you look like the business man you appear to be," I snapped. The table again went silent and they all looked around at each other.
"I told you," Harry smirked and I took a sip of the water in front of me. As dishes came out and I gave an opinion, they finally warmed up to me.
"I really like this but maybe instead of a red sauce, do a lemon butter sauce. Red sauce doesn't suit fish very well. The pasta is too heavy. Capellini would work better."
"Wow," Dave chuckled.
"I told you," Harry laughed, kissing my cheek. When the wine tasting started, I felt right at home and they all looked at me stunned as Harry and I discussed the wine list.
"You've gotta have white wine too, babe. A lot of women don't drink red wine because it stains their teeth. However, I'm not very good with white wines. On the red side, you shouldn't go with the Lewis. Go with Continuum. The 2009 Merus and Papillon were really good as well," I said, taking a bite of the garlic bread I'd been eating since we'd arrived.
"They don't make a lot of Merus anymore like that and 2009 wasn't a great year. I liked the Lewis."
"It burned too much."
"It's alcohol."
"I understand that, but the Merus and Continuum were much smoother, better tasting wines."
"I'm gonna do a case of each just to test it," Harry sighed.
"I'm telling you, the Lewis won't sell," I cautioned.
And it didn't. Two weeks later, the Continuum and Merus were selling like hot cakes.
"I told you," I grinned as we drove down the slick road, rain bludgeoning against the windshield. Pulling into a parking garage, he slowed, looking for a space.
"Yeah, yeah," he chuckled, taking a small left turn and the car finally came to a stop.
"Where are we?"
"You'll see." He got out, his footsteps echoing through the parking garage and opened my door.
"You know I hate surprises."
"You'll like this one." He grabbed my hand in his, pulling me along under the umbrella and we were soon inside a dark room.
"Harry, if you're gonna murder me, not cool babe."
"I'm not," he laughed. The lights flicked on and a large kitchen illuminated before me.
"What is this?" I chuckled, inhaling the scent of cake.
"This is my bakery. Well, one of. I thought we might have a bake date." Watching as he walked toward me an grabbed two aprons from the peg in the wall next to me, I couldn't fight a wide smile.
"What are we going to bake?" I teased as we walked toward the large stainless steel cart in the middle of the kitchen.
"We could make anything really. Cupcakes, cake, croissants, eclairs, anything."
"How about cupcakes? Those are easy," I laughed, feeling child like.
"Perfect." Watching as he got out all the necessary basic ingredients, he turned toward me and nodded for me to follow him. Walking into a pantry, I smiled at the plethora of ingredients before us, feeling as if I were on a cooking show.
"What do you wanna make?" Harry asked, grinning.
"How about we do a chocolate cupcake with walnuts and for the icing, do like a salted caramel thing and do like a bow tie ontop? It could be our James Bond cupcake." We both chuckled and he started to grab the necessary ingredients.
"Alright," he beamed. "Let's do it."
Pans, taste tests, and multiple clumps of flour in our hair later, we'd made a dozen cupcakes.
"Why'd we make so many?" I teased, biting into my second one.
"Because I wanna see if they'll sell tomorrow. If there's any left."
"Are you serious?" I was taken aback.
"I've been needing something new to spice up the menu and this is really delicious. We'll call it 007."
"Harry," I laughed.
"What?" he shrugged.
"This is crazy."
"What do you mean?"
"We've been together almost a month and you're putting a cupcake on the menu because of me." His smile fell and I knew I'd come off like a total bitch.
"Harr-"
"It's okay," he smiled weakly. "You said it'd take you some time." The rest of the night was silent and by the time we got back to his house, I couldn't take it anymore.
"I'm sorry. It didn't come out the way I meant for it to."
"It's fine."
"Don't bullshit me."
"I'm not. It's fine."
"Harry."
"Neely."
"Will you just tell me what you're thinking?" I snapped as we finally made it into the house.
"You really wanna know?" he seethed.
"Yeah."
"I'm thinking that the woman I love is right in front of me, but I still can't have her. The woman I love doesn't love me back. You say you remember, but every time I touch you, you get tense and I can see it on your face. You're afraid to touch me. Even when I put my arm around you, you tense up. I'm trying so hard. So hard, Neely."
"Harry, you don't get it." Tears were in my eyes and I cleared my throat.
"What are you so afraid of?" His voice was like a crack of thunder and silence fell around us.
"I'm scared of losing you again."